Breaking Her Fall
by TutorGirlml
Summary: A wintry Lanie/Esposito one-shot - A late night, an icy parking, lightly falling snow, and two people finally both decide they're going to make their move...


Hey folks! I'm still new to the "Castle" fan fiction community, but I'm posting my second one-shot attempt for your enjoyment. I'm hoping for a few more reviews than my first one got; I do thrive on feedback and knowing what people liked or thought of the stories. This one is wintry/Christmas-y somewhat and once again focuses on my two favorite secondary characters, Lanie and Esposito, though in a tamer, more innocent situation. Let me hear your comments! As always, I don't own them.

Breaking Her Fall

By: TutorGirlml

It had been a long day – freezing cold in early December – and Lanie Parish was more than willing to get out of the stark, sterile, dim morgue that somehow made it seem she was even colder than she would have been already. It was as if the metal tables, the bare walls and floor, and the strange, blue-ish, half-light that surrounded her all day sucked the warmth from the very air around her until, by days' end, she couldn't wait to get above ground and out into the sun, or at least the natural light.

Not that she disliked her job; she enjoyed it and she was good at it. But she was no workaholic like Kate. She wasn't all the job and she certainly intended to have a life beyond the bodies on her slab. She would go crazy if she didn't. All she knew was that it was time to hear some noise – to talk, laugh, yell even – and just be around people again. When she had gotten up to the bullpen though, her friends, Castle, and even Captain Montgomery had appeared to be gone for the night. So, in lieu of going home and finding only more quiet in her apartment, she decided to head over to O'Shea's, the cop bar many at the 12th frequented after hours when they wanted to cut loose, hoping either to catch up with her crew or to find some other source of fun and company for awhile.

If she were honest with herself though, she was mainly hoping to catch up with one person in particular – Javier Esposito. She had been giving him what she thought were pretty obvious flirty signals for weeks now, but either he was ignoring them or he really was completely oblivious. However, she knew that they had wrapped a rough case today, and if she found him alone at a table drowning his sorrows in a stiff drink, then she was going planning to offer him some company.

She paused cautiously though when she reached the entrance out into the parking lot. Apparently, since she had parked and gone inside that morning, it had gotten slicker as well as colder and she didn't really relish landing on her rump on what she could see was now ice-shiny cement if she could help it. Yet Lanie shrugged and ventured out, deciding there was nothing for it if she wanted to get to O'Shea's in time and that she didn't want to stand in the entryway all night. She was glad for her flat, sensible work shoes at this particular moment though; she would have never made it to her car in some of the heels she went out in on the weekends.

Just as Lanie had safely picked her way across the dimly lit lot to the driver's side door of her car, she heard someone call out her name. Startled, since she had thought the place was deserted, and somewhat embarrassed that someone had seen her inching along like a nervous granny, she whipped around to see who it was without thinking. The sudden movement did exactly what she had tried so hard to prevent; it threw her off balance, her feet slipped on the icy pavement, and down she went.

Biting back a cry of pain, Lanie felt the hard landing all the way up her spine and had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep tears at bay. To make matters worse, she could feel her cheeks flaming with heat at how ridiculous she must have looked, even as she could hear whoever had been trying to get her attention running towards her, in spite of the ice that she'd just taken a spill on, calling out to ask her if she was alright. About the time they reached her and she looked up into their worried eyes, Lanie realized that she should have known the voice and who it belonged to. She would have had to make a ninny of herself in front of Esposito; her rotten luck just never failed.

He reached her, just as she was getting her breath back in her lungs and trying to get her feet back under her to stand up. He knelt beside her, oblivious to the slick, dirty ice that was probably ruining his dress slacks, and reached out his hands to pull her to her feet, but she pushed him away. Ridiculously upset at herself for being so embarrassed, and at him for being there to see her fall in the first place, she swatted his help away uselessly and chided, "I'm fine! I can get up by myself!"

Chuckling good naturedly, he shook his head at her sharp tone and then proceeded to ignore her. His large, warm hands slid under her arms and lifted her up with him as he stood again. "I don't think so, Doctor Parish," he answered her with a bit of teasing reproach in his own voice. "I yell, startle you, and make you fall, and then you think I'm the type of guy who's just gonna leave you there and not even bother to make sure you're alright?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and growled out, "Leave it alone, Javier," she warned. "You can see for yourself the only thing hurt is my pride." But even as she ground the words out she knew that looking into those caramel-colored eyes of his had been a big mistake. Those eyes were like twin pools of honey, drawing her in and getting her stuck in their sweet depths. She didn't even want to look away, and as her indignant false anger died out, so did her embarrassment and all desire to make him leave her alone. She slowly felt her heartbeat again – somersaulting and tripling its beat at the warmth where his hands still rested on her body, not pulling back.

Sheepishly, Esposito smiled down at her, hoping she didn't realize just how much he wanted to keep holding onto her. Not unless he'd been reading some of the looks she been shooting him lately right, and she didn't mind. He was about to try his luck, risk her slapping him if he was wrong, and pull her closer when he felt his own foot try to skid out from under him. He shot out a toned arm and caught hold of Lanie's vehicle to steady himself before he took them both down.

It had been instinctual and not a considered effort on his part, but Lanie couldn't help enjoying the position this put them in. Javier now had his arms wrapped around her and was turned towards her car to use it for balance, effectively trapping her between his solid, rock-hard frame and the metal side of her trusty old Grand Prix. Comically she choked back a giggle as she suddenly pictured the scene from the movie "While You Were Sleeping" where Bill Pullman and Sandra Bullock's characters ended up trying to help each other across a sheet of ice and end up falling on it together repeatedly. She wasn't sure Esposito would appreciate laughter right at this particular moment, and she knew he would not find it funny if his pants got ripped apart in the fall the way the character's in the movie did.

Instead, she gazed up at him from under her eyelashes, fighting the urge to bat them at him, and bit her lip hopefully, wondering if he was finally going to make his move. She also took a calculated risk and slid her hands up from his waist, where she'd clutched at him when she'd felt them both about to fall again, to his lower back and tried to pull his considerably larger frame closer.

Esposito didn't fight her. Instead, he welcomed her action and leaned in, enclosing her in heat and fully allowing his body to hold her there against the solid metal behind her back and his chest and stomach at her front. His hands delved into her hair and then he was cradling her head in his hands to pull her into a first kiss. It was sweet without pushing, but also spoke of insistent need and fiery passion boiling just below the surface. His lips just brushed along the seam of her full ones and then sealed themselves tightly to hers, setting a steady, building rhythm that didn't appear to be letting up anytime in the near future.

They stood that way, kissing in the parking lot like a couple of teenagers and completely oblivious to the rest of the world around them, for several minutes, letting their long awaited moment of bliss stretch on before them. His thumb stroked along her cheek, as he continued to cradle her head in his hands, and Lanie marveled at how light and gentle his touch was, having seen him collar criminals, slam his fists down on interrogation tables, fire guns, and throw punches over the years, but having never seen such tenderness in his movements. It melted her tough exterior and made her want to pull even closer to him than she already had before.

Trying to reciprocate his ministrations, she traced her fingers up to dance over Javier's shoulder blades, trying to stroke the day's worry and stress out of his still-tight muscles and ease him with comfort and affection. Much as she loved the edge of fire growing in their kiss, she didn't want to let it go too far too fast and have them burn out before they really got going. They had waited for a long time to finally let themselves act, and she wanted them both to be able to savor the payoff and have it be this good between them for the long haul.

Coming up for air at last, their eyes met again, and both smiled at each other, understanding the other's true intentions and desires without words. Lanie took his hand and let her finger skate along over an old scar running along his hand between his thumb and forefinger that she'd never noticed being there before. It was tiny and lighter than the beautiful, dark tan skin of the rest of his hand, and once she traced the scar to its end, she bent her head to kiss it as well. Javier then brought that strong, lightly marked hand up to her cheek, his touch lingering. For a second, it was as though neither of them wanted to move, or even breathe, for fear that the moment would end and things would go back to before, when they hadn't known, hadn't dared to expose what it was now obvious they both felt.

Looking up to the night sky from where they stood, it was Esposito that then let out a gentle chuckle to see snow beginning to drift down lightly from the heavens. It was like Nature was working with them to further charm this perfect ending moment to an otherwise crummy day. Apparently Christmas was coming for him a couple weeks early this year, complete with a gift he never though he stood a chance of receiving.

"What do you say, Detective?" Lanie asked softly, her voice soft, alluring, with just a hint of her usual challenging playfulness. "Shall we continue this little meeting indoors somewhere, before one or the other of us breaks something?"

"Your wish is my command, Doc," Esposito returned slyly, giving her a wink that nearly sent her poor heart reeling again. "But I think trying to break you fall worked out pretty well for me."


End file.
